Harborough gardener wows judges at horticultural show

A green-fingered Harborough gardener scooped a gold medal after she wowed the judges at this year’s BBC Gardener’s World Live at the Birmingham NEC.

Kareena Gardiner was a first time entrant to any garden competition and impressed the RHS judges with her strong use of materials, clever planting schemes and an inspired colour palette which demonstrated the theme of Industrial Heritage of the West Midlands.

Despite being a relative new comer to garden design, only enrolling on a course at Brooksby College in Melton Mowbray last September, Kareena was sponsored by her college to create the show garden based on an initial design she submitted against the RHS brief.

Kareena also took home the judge’s Best in Category award.

She said: “I have enjoyed this whole experience – building the garden was a real team effort and I have to thank everyone involved for helping me, especially the inspirational Emma Scarborough, the team at Andicraft in Debdale who manufactured the rill and steelworks, my family and all those who supported me over the last couple of years to achieve what I thought was an unattainable dream.

Entitled Steel, the garden was divided into two areas by a hand-crafted steel rill denoting the Birmingham to Wolverhampton canal, a key driver in the birth of steel works in the area. A variety of sun-loving plants were used incorporating rusty hues of flowers and foliage to depict the coloration of corten steel.